Estrazione e isolamento di composti bioattivi da Carlina acualis

Carlina acaulis L. is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Asteraceae family commonly known as dwarf carline thistle and stemless carline thistle. The aim of this study is isolation and extraction of bioactive compounds from Carlina acaulis, a plant renowned for its traditional medicinal uses, and evaluating their cytotoxic effects. Using a combination of Soxhlet extraction, column chromatography with silica gel, and preparative thin-layer chromatography (TLC), compounds were isolated from C. acaulis roots, the extracted materials were analyzed by NMR spectroscopy, which confirmed the identity of carlina oxide as a predominant constituent. For cytotoxicity assessment, the effect of Carlina acaulis extract (dissolved in hexane, methanol, ethyl acetate, acetone, and dichloromethane) and Carlina oxide (purified compound) on the viability of two cell lines, A431 (susceptible to cisplatin) and A431-PT (resistant to cisplatin), was examined at different concentrations. The Crystal Violet Staining (CVS) was employed to conduct the assay. Cells were cultured, seeded, and treated with varying concentrations of Carlina extract and carlina oxide. Following a 24-hour incubation period, cells were fixed, stained, and their optical density was measured. The percentage of viability and IC50 were calculated. Results indicated that Carlina acaulis extract has potential as anti-cancer agent, and its effects are more pronounced at higher concentrations. Further research is required to understand the mechanisms underlying its cytotoxicity and finding its mode of action. In our study, the purified compound Carlina oxide had the lowest IC50 values, suggesting that it is the most potent extract. The least potent extract was the ethyl acetate extract, which has the highest IC50 values, which highlighting the potential for cytotoxic effects depending on the specific extract or compound used. Also, the data showed that two cell lines has varying sensitivity to different extracts and the purified compound.